Look at Joe Paterno shaking his cane at the media and insisting he isn't going anywhere in the aftermath of Penn State's regular season-ending victory over Michigan State that clinched the Nittany Lions' first Rose Bowl berth since the 1994 season. Was he the Big Ten's Coach of the Year? Find out...[details]

Personal:2008 post-training camp update: Painter is obviously Purdue's starting quarterback and will leave West Lafayette with plenty of school - and probably Big Ten - records.

Career: Ranks second on Purdue career completion percentage list at .599 (760-1,269), tied for second with 10 300-yard passing games, fourth with 1,269 passing attempts, fourth with 760 completions, fourth with 8,763 passing yards, fourth with 54 passing touchdowns, fourth with 9,101 yards of total offense, sixth with a 126.4 passing efficiency rating and sixth with 35 interceptions ... has three 400-yard passing games, including one 500-yard performance.
2007: Manning Award watch list (national quarterback award) ... honorable mention All-Big Ten by coaches and media ... started all 13 games ... ranked 12th nationally in passing yards (295.9) and 18th in total offense (294.3) ... second in Big Ten in both categories ... third in Big Ten and tied for 21st nationally in points responsible for with average of 14.8 per game ... ranked fourth in Big Ten with 132.3 passing efficiency ... tied Big Ten season record with 569 passing attempts (also Drew Brees in 1998) ... 356 completions rank second on school season list, 29 passing touchdowns are third, .626 completion percentage and 3,846 passing yards are fourth, 3,826 yards of total offense are fifth and 132.3 passing efficiency is 11th ... on Big Ten season lists ranks second in completions, fourth in passing yards and sixth in total offense ... threw merely 11 interceptions ... scored three rushing touchdowns ... connected with Dustin Keller for season-long 80-yard touchdown pass (the year's first scoring toss) at Toledo on Sept. 1 ... named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week after completing 38 of 49 passes (77.6 percent) for 348 yards and school-record-tying six touchdowns vs. Eastern Illinois on Sept. 8 ... completed 31 of career-high 60 passes for 268 yards and one touchdown vs. Ohio State on Oct. 6 ... rushed nine times for 34 yards and two touchdowns vs. Michigan State on Nov. 10 ... had season-long run of 27 yards in that game ... named Motor City Bowl Most Valuable Player after setting school records with 546 passing yards (fifth-most in nation for the season) and 540 yards of total offense (tied for eighth-most in nation for the season) vs. Central Michigan on Dec. 26 ... completed 35 of 54 passes with three touchdown passes in that game.
2006: Manning Award watch list (national quarterback award) ... honorable mention All-Big Ten by coaches ... started all 14 games ... ranked seventh in nation in total offense (292.3) and seventh in passing yards (284.6) ... led Big Ten in both categories ... ranked second in Big Ten and 24th nationally in points responsible for with average of 12.0 per game ... ranked sixth in Big Ten with 129.1 passing efficiency ... set Big Ten record with 3,985 passing yards (former Boilermaker Drew Brees held the mark with 3,983 in 13 games in 1988) ... amassed 4,092 yards of total offense to now rank third on Purdue season list ... 315 completions and 530 attempts now rank fourth and 22 passing touchdowns are ninth ... on Big Ten season lists ranks third in total offense and passing attempts and fourth in completions ... completed 59.4 percent of his passes ... threw 19 interceptions (tied for fourth-most in school history - also Mark Herrmann, 1979) ... had 107 yards rushing and six touchdowns ... owned three of the top 27 total offense performances in the nation for the season - 422 at Notre Dame on Sept. 30 (tied for 20th), 419 at Northwestern on Oct. 14 (tied for 23rd) and 413 vs. Ball State on Sept. 16 (27th) ... USA Today College Football Player of the Week nominee after completing 30 of 39 passes for 416 yards (15th-most in nation for the season) and three touchdowns vs. Ball State ... named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week after establishing career highs with 35 completions, 49 attempts and 431 passing yards (13th-most in nation for the season) at Northwestern ... threw for 398 yards and two touchdowns while completing 23 of 46 passes at Notre Dame ... had career-long 42-yard rush for a touchdown at Illinois on Nov. 11 ... named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after completing 29 of 42 passes for 357 yards and a season-high four touchdowns at Hawai'i on Nov. 25.
2005: Named honorable mention Freshman All-American and to Big Ten All-Freshman team by The Sporting News ... appeared in nine games, including five starts ... completed 89 of 170 passes (52.4 percent) for 932 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions ... ranked third on team with 251 yards rushing on 52 carries (4.8 average) and four touchdowns ... started last five games and led Boilermakers to 3-2 record ... completed 23 of 44 passes for 212 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions in first career start at Wisconsin on Oct. 22 ... also rushed for career-high 60 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown in that game ... threw for season-high 226 yards on 20 of 32 passing, including season-long 39-yard touchdown strike, vs. Michigan State on Nov. 5 ... scored two rushing touchdowns among 16 carries for 57 yards vs. Illinois on Nov. 12 ... equaled career high of 60 yards rushing on 10 carries at Indiana on Nov. 19 ... had season-long 27 yard run in that game that was longest by a Purdue quarterback since Drew Brees had a 27-yarder vs. Minnesota on Sept. 23, 2000.
2004: Did not play.
High School: Ranked as No. 21 pro-style quarterback in nation and No. 5 player in Indiana by Rivals.com ... listed No. 84 among Midwest players by SuperPrep ... All-American by PrepStar ... completed 106 of 207 passes (51 percent) for 1,787 yards and 16 touchdowns en route to being named all-state, all-area and all-conference as senior ... rushed for 274 yards on 96 carries (2.9 average) and five touchdowns ... finalist on Mr. Football ballot ... team went 11-2 and won conference and sectional championships ... received American Legion Mental Attitude Award ... selected for Indiana All-Star Game ... as junior completed 129 of 237 passes (54.4 percent) for 2,122 yards and 22 touchdowns ... rushed for 524 yards on 121 carries (4.3 average) and 12 touchdowns ... had three-year record of 28-7 with 4,946 passing yards, 49 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing touchdowns ... set school career records for passing attempts (618), completions (304), yards (5,039) and touchdowns (49) ... coach was Mike Hidde ... also played baseball and basketball.
Personal: Given name is Curtis Jeffrey Painter ... born June 24, 1985 ... computer graphics technology major ... interests include art and computers ... admired Dallas Cowboy greats Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith growing up and later Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts ... uncle, Jay Venzin, lettered as offensive guard for Purdue in 1975 and 1976 and grandfather, Donald Beck, played basketball for Boilermakers from 1953 to 1955.
- Purdue Sports Information

The Good: A tough, intelligent pocket passer with good touch and accuracy on short and intermediate routes. Has the ability to make every throw in the book, but trusts his timing and anticipation skills to throw the deep out. Is quick to set in the pocket and has a compact throwing delivery. Gets the ball out in a hurry.The Bad: Lacks ideal size and has taken most of his snaps from the shotgun in his career. Doesn't make sound decisions under pressure and needs to do a better job reading the blitz. Will force the ball off his back foot in the face of a danger.